Gong Gong did not expect something so grand to be overcome so quickly, let alone before much destruction could be caused. It was very clear that this one had a very good understanding of nature around him, or at the very least, his own specialized element and how it reacted to other elements, which was still rather impressive, including in command of it. "... So, You WERE Hiding The True Extent Of Your Power..." Any wise elder would know not to bring about the full extent of their force to anything that was not deserving of it, as a sign that they understood self control and the power of controlling their own abilities only to the necessity that was required to destroy the target. "This Means That I Have Opened Your Eyes To My Strength And Drawn You Out Of Underestimating Me. Your Head Is As Large As Any Dragon." This was both a compliment and an insult, considering that the more certain dragons knew, the greater their arrogance and ego, yet the more wisdom they received, the more knowledgeable they became. Both were present in this Tsao, yet which was greater had only yet to be seen by the eyes of yet another large-headed dragon.

"You Say That You Cannot Allow Me To Do As I Have Done Again..." As the dragon gazed at Tsao, who was now as large as he, straight in his eyes, Gong Gong's body would suddenly rise higher, into the light of the sun, "But WILL You!?" The raise of his voice spread a thick layer of clouds upon the next atmospheric layer beyond the first where Tsao's own black clouds were, spreading Gong Gong's once physical form out now as a body of clouds equally as expansive as the layer below him. The dragon's bulging eyes suddenly opened up again from within the thick sheet of vapor blocking out the sun and peered down aggressively at Tsao. "XIANGLIU!!" Gong Gong called out again, this time with nine large child-like heads popping out from the various parts of the clouds and harboring different facial expressions. Each of them faced Tsao from nine different directions at nine different distances, opening their mouths to spew out virulent torrents of poisonous acid rain in high concentration at him. From each of the nine heads opening their mouths, the sky should have been filled with acid rain.

Tsao was growing irritated now with this dragon and his continuous shapeshifting. He was much more difficult to capture than Tsao had anticipated even for himself, which shows that he had definitely been underestimating Gong Gong in his own arrogance. That ended here, however, since it was seen that the more Tsao messed around, the longer this dragon was allowed to do as he pleased. If this was indeed a test, then it was time for Tsao to buckle down. His consciousness hadn't once left the entirety of the atmosphere, and upon the nine heads sprouting from the clouds would nine enormous bolts of lightning shoot up from the darkness, untraced, and skewer them as soon as they opened their mouths to spit poison. Tsao was very aware of what the thoughts of the nine heads were as they appeared and as they had thought to act out of malice, and all such malicious thought toward him was met with skewering bolts of lightning automatically. This was also due to the tower below them still feeding Tsao his power, as it had been wrapped in the black clouds as well, and its own power surged through the dark layer Tsao's body rested atop. If the initial strikes missed, then the power from the tower would automatically target the nine heads again every time they appeared and release automatic bolts of lightning at them until they were gone, leaving Tsao free to concentrate on Gong Gong.

Tsao raised his hand again and closed his eyes, not speaking a word this time, and at the edges of the Rolling Darkness, which, by Gong Gong's own decision, were just as expansive as the layer of cloud above he created, the Rolling Darkness, which did not ever stop moving until it was dispelled, would shoot up at the edges and cut off Gong Gong's clouds from spreading beyond the border, then arc around at the top to close off the next atmospheric layer from being infiltrated by Gong Gong's cloudy presence. This would confine the dragon, even in his vaporous form, to one area that was under Tsao's supervision and jurisdiction. Next, Tsao slipped into the lower layer of black clouds and completely disappeared, appearing again from the higher layer of clouds, upside down and glaring at Gong Gong from the height of the black clouds domed around the two of them. There was a great rumbling in the air and the clouds below would suddenly start to rise toward Gong Gong's middle layer of clouds.

"HM!!" the dragon grunted after seeing at the edges of his cloudy throne that the black vapor had shot up around him at a high speed, seeing to enclose itself above him. With the speed of lightning itself, Gong Gong shot up and collected his expanded cloudy body, which would solidify as a single streaming streak of bright lightning aimed this time straight for where the Rolling Darkness would come together from all sides, knowing this would be the last place they would touch. If not able to make it through the quickly closing gap, he would still be able to strike Tsao directly in his face and tear his head straight from his body the very moment he appeared. If his head did not roll off with the all too swift serpentine lash of Gong Gong, as well as the charged jaws with all the great pressures of a powerful storm, then certainly, the virulent poison that rested in the fangs of Gong Gong would corrode Tsao and all of his power from the inside out. Once the boy was in the dragon's jaws, he would tear him from his place within the darkness and slip through the hole like a snake out of a hole in the ground.

There was only the bright gleam of a plasmatic streak in Tsao's eye as his body formed, the first thing appearing before his face being the dragon seeking freedom from imprisonment with all such ferocity he could muster. This was expected from any such serpent of all kinds, since whenever they saw their chance to escape predation and once again having the upper hand in a situation, they would take it with as much swiftness and destructiveness as it took. That was why Tsao was already prepared for something like this the moment he appeared. The thick layer of cloud below would continue to push whatever presence Gong Gong had in the atmosphere up toward the top of the dome of Rolling Darkness, until there was no more space below, and the top and bottom became one single layer.

Once the dragon was right before his face, Tsao's body became black and pillowy, like the Rolling Darkness itself, and his mouth would open up great and wide like that of the eye of a storm, with a funnel's opening leading straight to the sun. Because Gong Gong was already heading in this direction the moment Tsao appeared, when his mouth opened up as an eye of a storm, the gaze of the sun piercing through, Tsao merely needed to close his mouth with a decisive clang, sealing off the only exit with vibrating teeth as sharp as lightning. "Absolute Silence; Deadline." The words he spoke were completely silent, but all throughout the spiraling funnel of Rolling Darkness, strings of pitch black lightning masked by the presence of the pitch black clouds would surge through, jolting from every angle and creating a powerful grid behind Gong Gong that prevented him from moving backwards without literally being struck dead repeatedly by nearly invisible bolts of lightning. He should have been forcefully sucked through the funnel out of the Veritas and straight into the sun, and if the suction of the pitch black vortex was not enough to draw him out, then the lightning that would kill him would end him and his body would be expelled with all the swiftness and force of lightning. The next strike of lightning should have been Gong Gong's body hitting the surface of the sun and being completely incinerated.

Though Gong Gong's jaws were wide open and just at the face of Tsao, it would seem that his face was not truly there to bite at in the first place, and there was only more of the strange dark cloud foreign to Gong Gong. Realizing that he had been deceived, and also knowing that he could not turn back, in order to prolong his life as long as possible, Gong Gong entered throat of the darkness and continued through the funnel, seeing the sun on the other side. However, he did not strike it as lightning, but slowed his movements to see if there was a way for him to escape, or at least to continue to prolong his own life.

Gong Gong peeked from the corner of his eyes behind him, seeing that he could still move backward, yet feared that there may have been something there he could not see and that couldn't be sensed, similarly to how the dark cloud worked before. He also knew that diving into the black clouds would have probably harbored the same effect, and that now, the only way to exit was straight ahead, into the sun. Though Tsao seemed reasonable and the type to release Gong Gong if he were to ask for mercy, for some reason, the dragon saw no more reason to live after this, finding that this was the best way for him to end his tireless centuries of passionless existence; as if being put out of his misery. Though, not before he spoke to Tsao once more. "... You Have Done Well," were the first words he spoke, closing his eyes and contemplating his imminent death and how to make the most of what little life he had left. "... Better Than Even I Would Have Anticipated. Your Wisdom And Power Are Indeed Beyond The Standard I Had Perceived." In fact, Gong Gong may have expected even more from Tsao now that he had seen some of his greater works.

"I Am Grateful To You, As Well," He added, snaking his way down the inevitable path to the sun, his thick coat of scaly armor growing ever hotter as the light brightened upon his lids, "For Being Able To Put Me Out Of This Shameful Misery Of Mine. For That, I Relinquish My Spirit To You Upon My Destruction." It was better than having his spirit burnt up, too, and would be like an eternal blessing from the dragon that Tsao had passed Gong Gong's test. Thus, when Gong Gong's body was destroyed, his spirit would remain with Tsao as an ally he could call upon from his own strength. "Use My Will Well, Young One... And Let Me Have Rest Within You And Your Peace." After that, it would be up to Tsao whether he accepted Gong Gong's will or not. If not, then his spirit would be burnt up along with his body as it struck the surface of the sun, driving deep down into its center with all the swiftness of lightning, burning away into nothingness.

Tsao was completely dejected from trusting the serpents. He was well aware of how they all were when given any sort of chance; second, third, and beyond, the snakes were still just snakes, and would strike back if allowed to live any longer than the first time. Yet, he knew that they were capable of change, which made this decision more difficult, since it seemed there was true sincerity in this one's voice. Being no longer attached to Orochi as the main head, perhaps each of the heads had different thoughts, feelings and personalities that were not of the commander's once detached. Having this thought was Gong Gong's only true saving grace, and at the very sight of his body striking the sun, Tsao's face would appear at the end of the funnel, mouth agape and drawing out with a powerful suction the spirit of Gong Gong straight back inside of the funnel. "Rest In Peace..." he said silently, before his face disappeared and the funnel folded in on itself, now with the spirit of the dragon inside of it.

Once they reached the atmosphere of the Veritas again, the part of the Rolling Darkness that was connected to the tower would suddenly begin to glow with Tsao's power, drawing in the blackness into the confines of the building, and with it, the spirit of the dragon Gong Gong, which would strike the very tip of the tower like thunder once all of the dark clouds were drawn into it, sealing the spirit of Gong Gong inside of the tower under Tsao's command, as well as marking the tower as Tsao's own from henceforth. It and all energy that come from it was Tsao's and remained stagnant in the air, linked to Tsao's very consciousness, itself.

Standing at the steeple of the tower, Tsao gazed off at the now cloudless sky and folded his arms across his chest peacefully, as an Egyptian would, and let the beaming sun shine down upon his face and warm his chocolate skin. He smiled warmly from the top of his tower, and what would wrap around his head would be a golden band like that of a Pharaoh with, not a serpent's head, but a dragon's head harboring Gong Gong's face and spirit resting within.

"Dragon Temple," he muttered to himself, naming this abandoned place as his own, "The Tower Of Manna." Fortunately, this place was already equipped with all sorts of stuff, such as classrooms (for teaching how to use Manna), living arrangements (for students and travelers to live in) and many other necessities, with an expanse of vast, lush field that could be used to expand upon this territory as he saw fit. As much as Tsao enjoyed living in the Sacred Temple for so long, he liked this place much better. It gave him a nostalgic feeling. "Yeah... I like that." After reviewing the pages of his book, Tsao turned around and walked inside, finding somewhere within the tower to place the Golden Grimoire, which would now have the mark of a dragon on it, as well as an eagle (to symbolize both Gong Gong and Raijin, both of whose spirits belonged to Tsao now.)